JESUS IS THE PERFECT LIGHT FOR YOUR DARKNESS

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

Text: Genesis 1:3

Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Introduction: My message to you this morning is "Jesus is the Perfect Light for Your Darkness." That is my message to you and to every church. That is my message to our community and to every community. That is our message, as Christians, to every man, woman, boy, and girl.

You see, our text, like the rest of the Bible, testifies of Jesus Christ.

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Perhaps you don't see Jesus in Gen. 1:3. Well, it may not be a DIRECT reference to the Lord Jesus, because He was not created like the light of Genesis 1:3 was created, but it certainly does TESTIFY of Him, for HE is the light of this dark world:

John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

In a little bit I'm going to show you from a verse in 1 Corinthians that the creation is said in the New Testament to be a "type" or picture of our salvation.

The light of Genesis 1:3 existed before the sun, because the sun was not created until the fourth day. I'm glad Jesus was around before the sun, even as I reminded us last week that Jesus existed before the beginning! But that's not all. Jesus will be around when there is no longer need for a sun for the world:

Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

I invite you to think with me on this passage, and I pray that God, by His Holy Spirit, will bring you as much joy as He brought me as I prepared the message. I trust that all of us will be able to magnify God and His salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Perfect Light for Your Darkness!

I. THE DESIGN OF THE CREATOR

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

Man has a wonderful composition, because GOD did it:

Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Man, like this world, was made:

A. For HIM

• Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
• Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

B. For habitation

• Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
• Likewise, the Lord made man for closeness, fellowship, and habitation. It appears from the reading of Genesis that the Lord had a habit of regular fellowship in the garden with Adam and Eve.

But then, there was:

II. THE DISASTER

Genesis 1:2a And the earth was without form, and void ...

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

A. There was a corruption of design

• "without form"

B. There was a corruption of purpose

• "and void"
• The word void means to be meaningless or ineffective, such as a vow made void.
• It also means to be empty and barren (Deuteronomy 32:28).
• Man's nature has been corrupted by sin so that his life is ineffective and empty without Christ.

III. THE DARKNESS

Genesis 1:2a And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep ...

The darkness of the world, like the darkness of a man's soul without Christ, means:

A. There is a loss of purity

B. There is a loss of perception

IV. THE DISTURBANCE

Genesis 1:2b ... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The Spirit of God moved before the light came on. Likewise, the Spirit of God moves on a person's heart before he ever comes to Christ in faith.

A. The Spirit moved before the Savior was born

• Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

B. The Spirit moves before a sinner is born again

• He rebukes in conviction
1. John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
• He reveals Christ
1. John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

V. THE DEMAND

Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Here is the proof, from the New Testament, that our text is a reference to salvation through Jesus Christ:

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:3 tells us two things about our Savior and His great salvation. It tells:

A. The announcement, or prophecy, of salvation "Let there be light"

B. The arrival, or performance, of salvation "and there was light"

VI. THE DELIGHT

Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good ...

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

When we say that God's salvation is good, we mean

A. Salvation is a BLESSING

B. Salvation is better than damnation!

VII. THE DIVISION

Genesis 1:4b ... and God divided the light from the darkness.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

God divided the light from the darkness in CREATION, and, praise God, He divided the light from the darkness in CONVERSION!

The difference, or division, between light and darkness is JESUS. I want to close this morning with an acronym or alliteration to explain that the division between light and darkness is HIM - H-I-M!

JESUS, the perfect light for your darkness, is the difference:

A. H - Between heaven and hell

• Heaven is light and hell is outer darkness
• Salvation not only takes your soul to heaven, but it also puts some of heaven in your soul!

B. I - Between intelligence and ignorance

• Cartoonists have traditionally depicted the point of understanding or of conceiving an idea by a light bulb over the head.

C. M - Between mercy and misery

• Dark places are miserable places: captives in prisons, dungeons, basements, closets

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